It seems that Singapore Airlines must be feeling the pressure from JetStar and AirAsia X with the announcement today of a medium to long haul “Low Cost Carrier” that will use widebody aircraft.

The plan is to base the airline at Singapore, and be operating it within a year.

Singapore Airlines state:

“The new airline is being established following extensive review and analysis. It will enable the SIA Group to serve a largely untapped new market and cater to the growing demand among consumers for low-fare travel”

The airlines will be separate, with Singapore Airlines and Silk Air operating as they are as premium airlines (and how dare anyone think that Singapore Airlines would directly operate a narrow bodied aircraft by itself), and the new airline being it’s own little airline.

So what is the airline going to be called and how is it going to look? We’ll find out “in due course”. What has been announced is that initial frames will be sourced from the parent airline (Singapore Airlines), and that future frames “are open” to whatever is being sold or available for lease.

Well it’s been long time coming with the pressure of AirAsia X and JetStar Asia. It’ll be interesting to see how discounted this will play out, and the differentiations between the two products.

Well the cloud has passed the UK for now, but here’s your late lunchtime update:

Air Traffic over Germany is returning to normal, after 700 flights were cancelled due to the ash cloud over Germany. Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin airports were affected. No other European flight restrictions are in progress according to EuroControl

The volcano itself has appeared to have stopped erupting at this point in time, with no ash emitting at 0200 GMT on Wednesday

NATS State:

There is currently no impact from volcanic ash on UK airspace.
If the situation changes, updates will resume on this site.

Next steps: The post-mortem, and Ryanair’s attempts to flout the rules. This will get entertaining quickly….

Well it seems to be clearing the UK according to NATS:

Latest information from the Met Office shows that following the recent eruption of Grímsvötn in Iceland, no volcanic ash is currently predicted in airspace over the UK from 0100 UK time on Wednesday 25th May.

As the volcano continues to erupt, NATS will continue to monitor the latest Met Office information and further updates will be provided if and when the situation changes.

Because of recent disruption and the continued eruption of the volcano, passengers are advised to continue to check with their airline before travelling.

However, services from Services at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Barra, Prestwick, Cumbernauld, Tiree, Carlisle and Durham Tees Valley could be affected until early on Wednesday.

The Ash itself has drifted into Northern Germany, affecting Hamburg and Bremen, with those airports closed from 04:00BST/05:00CST, with the ash plume from the volcano had decreased in height and intensity, and south-westerly winds were predicted for the next two days which would move the cloud away from the UK.

Although the worst is over, GhettoIFE.com will continue to monitor the situation. Please note, if you have travel plans, check before you go to see if your service is running – either by checking with your carrier or airport.

NATS are predicting closurses or limited services for the following airports from 19:00 to 01:00BST.

• Barra
• Glasgow
• Edinburgh
• Prestwick
• Newcastle
• Carlisle
• Durham Tees Valley
• Cumbernauld
• Tiree

Meanwhile,

• BMI and BA have resumed Aberdeen services, 
• BMI has followed BA’s lead and shut off all Glasgow and Edinburugh services
• Ryanair is still trying to push past the ban. It is waiting for the IAA to grant approval.. or not.

More updates later….

Well it seems the Italian Job is coming to an end for Lufthansa, as they formally announce the wind-down of Lufthansa Italia.

The branch of Lufthansa will terminate on the 29th October, after failing to beat the then down on its knees Alitalia who are slowly rebuilding their momentum, and Lufthansa who constantly seem to have tickets for sale at £49 each way on these routes – and thus not turning not enough cash over.

Instead, the A319′s will be redeployed within the Lufthansa group, whilst BMI get an A319 back for themselves – unless of course Lufthansa decide to charter it for more LHR-FRA services.

Air Dolomiti themselves will remain a regional airline operating Embraer E-195 jets and ATR-72 Turboprops.

Well that’s another fine mess over and done with. Where as the chance to grow Air Dolomiti remains, it will be a slow slog before Lufthansa try a re-branding exercise like this again….

For those who want to see Lufthansa’s gloss on this, head to http://presse.lufthansa.com/en/news-releases/singleview/archive/2011/may/23/article/1936.html

So at Lunchtime on the 24th May, lets see what the state of play is:

NATS suggest the following airports will be affected from 1300 to 1900 BST

• Durham Tees Valley
• Glasgow
• Glasgow Prestwick
• Edinburgh
• Londonderry
• Newcastle 

EuroControl says 252 flights had been cancelled so far today.

Ryanair has carried out a test flight over the zone at 41,000ft showed there was:

“no visible volcanic ash cloud or evidence of ash on the airframe, wings or engines”.

However, no indication if they went through the lower cloud cover was made or stated. The Civil Aviation Authority state at

“no time did a Ryanair flight enter the notified area of high contamination ash over Scotland this morning”

EasyJet has cancelled:

• Flights from 0700 BST to 1900 BST today to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen airports.
• Flights from 13:00 BST to 1900 BST have been scrubbed from Newcastle too.

The cancellations listed in this morning’s post seem still to be in force. Again, check with your carrier before departing.

Next Volcano Ash Update: 15:30BST unless something big breaks.

Firstly, lets get up to speed with who is doing what:

• Aer Lingus – 12 flights affected to and from Scottish Airspace
• BMI flights to and from Aberdeen are subject to delay, but services in and out of Glasgow and Edinburgh were running normally
• British Airways will not be operating any flights between London (LHR/LGW/LCY) and Scotland until 1400 BST
• Eastern Airways will not be operating any services in or out of Scottish airspace
• EasyJet cancelled flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen between 0500 and 1300 BST
• Flybe cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen and Inverness
• KLM has cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Durham Tees Valley Airport
• Loganair has cancelled 36 flights.
• Ryanair has been advised by the Irish Aviation Authority not to operate flights from Glasgow Prestwick, Edinburgh or Aberdeen until at least 1300 BST but believed that “there is no basis for these flight cancellations”

Weather patterns are all over the shop, and whilst the cloud is predicted to head southwards down the United Kingdom, spreading to Wales, northern England and Northern Ireland by midday and across much of the UK by the end of the day.

The decision to  fly or not in ash cloud conditions is down to individual airlines, although they have to apply to the Civil Aviation Authority for final approval.

Again, the best advice is to keep an eye on your airport’s website, your operators website and the links in last nights post.

Safe travels to all.

GhettoIFE will be continuing coverage as and when – The Next Planned Update is 13:00BST. 

Ok, it’s late, but the Ash cloud is on it’s way courtesy of the Grimsvotn Volcano. So this is who’s doing what tomorrow as of Midnight 24/05/11…

• Aer Lingus have cancelled 12 flights between Ireland and Scotland
• British Airways is not operating any flights between London Airports (LHR, LGW, LCY) and Scotland until 1400 BST
• EasyJet cancelled flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen scheduled for between 0500 and 0900 BST
• Eastern Airways will not be operating any services in or out of Scottish airspace
• Flybe cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen and Inverness
• KLM cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as some services to Newcastle
• Loganair has cancelled 36 flights. Only inter-island routes in Orkney are unaffected.

 The picture is shifting all of the time. Expect cutting and changes as this develops.

You can keep an up-to-date view of what going on at:

• CAA – http://www.caa.co.uk/ 
• EuroControl – http://www.eurocontrol.int/
• NATS http://www.nats.co.uk/grimsvotn-updates/

As usual in these circumstances – check before you fly with your airline and airport. And safe travels to all.

Well it’s taken long enough, but British Airways has pulled the plug on some services:

Following forecasts of significant volcanic ash in Scottish airspace, British Airways has decided as a precaution that it will not operate any flights between London and Scotland on Tuesday May 24 that arrive in Scotland before 2pm or depart from Scotland before 2pm.

At present all other flights are unaffected.

Updated: KLM has confirmed they are pulling the following: from Amsterdam to Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as some to Newcastle.

Next update: 00:00BST or there abouts.

Airlines are beginning to react to the Volcano Ash heading to Scotland, with Eastern Airways cancelling all Scottish Services.

See http://www.easternairways.com/home/ash-cloud-information

By the end of the night, expect more Scottish Services to be hit….